Adventures in the 13th Age

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The egg shudders and you notice that its every inch is covered in arcane marks, now dully glowing. With a loud crack the egg splits in two, and with a scream the dragon emerges. Nameless, its eyes are locked onto you. What do you do?

Cold Open: Ruins

The ruins in the foreground are still smoldering as the horses crest the snowy hill and we rack mount to see Törk dismount and look around, shaken. “As we feared. Copperhold is no more.”
“Do you think the Fallen did this?” Nameless asks. “They had quite the camp near here.”Törk shakes his head. “They’re separatists and regicidal maniacs, but they want the support of the Kingdom. I don’t think so.” He crouches down and picks up some dirt from the ground, runs it between his fingers, then touches some to his lips before spitting it out.Nat looks confused. “What is it?”
“The ground here glows green as new sprouts. Thrumming with it. Pulsing. I just wish I knew what it was.”Purge points into the ruins. “There’s movement over there.” And that’s when the roar begins and the orcs rise from the ruins and run at you. Törk, you have sworn not to harm an Orc until it threatens you. What do you do?

Ext, Copperhold Ruins

Törk climbs atop a collapsed building and attempts to calm the oncoming orcs. He manages to confuse them, giving Nameless a turn to power up before the orcs’ commander screams that “the defilers must perish!” and begin the assault again.

all note that these orcs are wielding very improvised weapons: charred sticks; brickwork; torn up wood boards. The orcs themselves also glow a rather amazing green for Törk

Törk manages to channel the Jeweled Gauntlet again [Director’s note: rolled one of his now-two magic numbers on the d20]. Instead of taking ongoing poison damage, however, the green energy flows to the area around him and two more orcs climb out of the ground to attack him.

Nevertheless, the orcs are outmatched and eventually fall.

Ext, Copperhold Ruins

Purge investigates the corpse of one of the orcs. It has a sickly green goo around its mouth. “The plague is spreading.”

Törk nods, and points at the orc’s flank. ”No tribe mark on the thigh. They’re Unbound, beholden to none. Like a mad dog, foaming at the mouth, need to be put down."

Taithos Dra, in her new grey collar as a fresh recruit, reports that it has been two weeks since the scouting party went to Copperhold to investigate rumors of a gathering of the Fallen, but no report of the party has returned. A mechanical owl was sent just a day ago and it, too, has never returned.

Cut back to Törk as he waves his left hand in a wide circle. A ring on his finger flashes as he does so, “This way to the owl.”

He takes point, and the others follow.

As they move, we pull back and hear Törk in voice over. “The Fallen tried to make a few orcs of their own, I’d say. You can see there where a body came up.” And the audience sees a shadow emerge where Törk points in a reflection of the past. ”But they didn’t know what they were doing, and they didn’t have a Broodmother." The shadow flexes, silently screams at the sky, and begins raging. “What the Fallen didn’t know was the cause of this catastrophe.”

Ext, Fallen Tower

The group approaches the remains of a watch tower, now in rubble on the ground. If they’d looked they’d know that the tower fell away from the town, but no one bothered.

Purge notes a pile of bodies nearby, and moves close to them to give them the rites. Törk offers a flask, and Purge puts a drop on each body, then makes the sign of the double cross. Then he touches his lips, and as he makes the double-cross he coughs, and in his cough says a name: “Rakana Copperkenner”.

The spirits of the bodies shimmer up and out of them, and one floats forward. “We brought it to town. We didn’t know what it did.” She looks around. “It did this.”

“An egg. We are sorry…” The spirits fade, and Purge falls to one knee, not out of reverence but out of pain [Director’s Note: this was a cash-in of a 5-value icon die with the Lich King; the cost was a couple of recoveries]

Törk that would be necessary to hatch so many orcs. Only the Broodmothers know where the eggs come from.

Törk uses the ring to find the owl. He tries to rewire it, and he does so, but not before giving himself a nasty shock.

A shower of purple sparkles scintillates above the owl. They form a screen of sorts, and we see the rolling hills as the owl made its approach to Copperhold. It crests the last hill and sees the town, and begins to hone in on something in the town center… when suddenly there is a flash and the sparkles turn to a riot of static.

Ext, Copperhold Causeway

Suddenly a large worm slithers around the corner ahead of them and barrels toward them. As it slithers closer they see that the snow on the ground is freezing solid underneath it. Törk yells, “Remorhaz!” as everyone draws their weapon, only to see five fresh-faced orcs turn the corner, too, chasing the ice-worm.

Nat runs past the worm to lock down the orcs, and does so well at it that all of them stay to pummel her.

The remorhaz, caught between two groups, trills at the ones before it and stuns Törk, and Nameless.

Purge attempts to call forth the friendly spirit of Vessel from the cleric’s old sword which the commander now bears, but nothing happens.

Once they manage to un-stun themselves, the battle turns and the beasts fall.

Int, Temple of Klursh

A cloaked figure ducks into the empty temple, and as he stands erect we see that he is immense. He drops his cowl and we get our first glimpse of The Orc Lord.

Törk puts it all together. ”The Green is in the custody of The Elf Queen. The same queen who made the first orcs to fight the Wizard King, and who, it seems, is The Source of the orcs. She’s still making them."

Cold Open: Storeroom

The priest sings, his low barritone echoed by the assembled masses. They each hold a bucket, and as they sing the dirge they dip brushes inside and draw forth dark, turpintine-like paint to cover the walls, which we now recognize as the Glitterhaegen temple to the One True God, half way through a dim reimagining. The camera pushes quickly through the crowds, down a corridor, and into a store room. The floor shudders and a tile lifts free, and Törk sticks his head out and looks about. “Less green up here for sure; mush easier t’ see.” Nameless‘s voice comes from below, “Great, but is the coast clear?”Törk nods, and climbs up, then offers a hand to aid those below.Purge emerges first, brushes himself off, and picks up an apple from a nearby shelf. He turns it over and sees that it’s rotten. “We must discover what the Salamanders have in store for this place, before it’s too late to do anything about them.”Nat, you were promised a favor by a man who then turned on his friends and followed a dark god, and now you are accompanying that man’s friends into a temple of that dark god. A temple whose gilted doors you ferried from the Wild Wood many Ages ago. But in this Age you hear someone shuffling down the hall toward you. What do you do?

Törk emerges from the storeroom, earlier in the day, sneaks around, steals some bread and mutton, sits invibly in his white hide cloak, counts guys, heads back to the storeroom, “All quiet downstairs, but the ones in the fancy robes can go upstairs where the action is. Ready?” and he lifts the panel to put us back at the cold open.

The Priestess nods, and takes the offered items. “I know. I know. But your work is not yet done.” And she hands him back the sword.

An acolyte on guard duty stops Nameless and Purge from ascending the stairs. “Sister, brother, return to the Great Hall. It is imperitive that the refashioning be done tonight!”

Purge nods, turns to go… and then bashes into the guard, who yells out in pain as he crumbles to the ground, and someone upstairs hollars down offering assistance. The now-unconscious guard is bleeding all over the ground as his aid arrives, and when Nameless fails to convince her of their good intentions Purge knocks her out, too.

Nat, in clothes of a different Age, is leading a band of mercenaries into the Wild Wood, where they attack a small hut and ferry out the doors, still glistening with stain and beautiful.

Cut to Nat overseeing the doors being brought to the construction site that is the Great Hall of this temple, and bartering with an old woman. “I went through a lot of trouble to get these, and I’d appreciate the money we negotiated beforehand.” The old woman reluctantly gives it over, and as Nat walks away she mutters something about retiring to her own island somewhere in the Spray.

Nat snaps her fingers and opens the door. “Let’s go see what happened to them.”

Int, Stairwell

Purge is standing with ill-fitting robes draped over his armor. “These are woman’s robes; I look ridiculous.”

Someone comes around the corner, and Purge raises his shield… but it’s Törk and Nat.

Nameless comes out of a nearby room, and on the floor we see a number of unconscious acolytes. “Oh, look who’s joined us.” She holds up a hat pilfered from one of the unfortunates behind her, “I have permission to go upstairs, now!”

Int, Upstairs

The party trudges up. A guard lies dead on the ground, a dagger in his eye.

Int, A Secret Passage

Nat pushes aside a chunk of wall and it opens. “A little used passage; I doubt they know this way even exists.”

Purge passes a barrel that shudders, then cackles. Out pops a redcap, and soon four of his friends pop out of other tiny hiding spots around the room.

The melee ensues, but the redcaps keep disappearing and popping back out of different impossible hiding spots, or leaping onto people’s backs and jabbing their knives into them. More than once the party finds themselves circled up waiting for another onslought from the passel of redcaps.

[Director’s Note: 13th Age redcaps have a “bad word” that, whenever spoken or thought, allows them to teleport back to a hiding spot. For these redcaps the word was “attack”, and the party spent at least two turns doing nothing because they had no one to hit, seeing as all the redcaps were hiding and ready to pop out again.]

Finally, the last redcap leaps out, misses, and is pounced upon by everyone.

The other end of the secret passage leads into a large, empty room. Nat looks sad, “Nothing’s here.”

Int, Upstairs

Back to the dead guard, Purge performs his last rites, and as he does so his eyes roll back.

Purge sees through The Lich King’s missing eye, as a swirl of vapor and mana resolves into Arroway, who wears a cloak emblazoned with the Obsidian Salamander. “The refashioning is almost complete. Are you almost done with your side of the deal?”

Törk shudders, and in a whisper we hear him speak. “He’s not a man or a force. It’s a thing.”

Suddenly a voice calls from below. “We know you are hiding up there. We know that you have invaded our Refashioning and are despoiling our sacred rites. It is time, now, for you to atone.”

Int, Great Hall

The four enter the great hall, where the statue of Vessel stands amidst blackened walls. Someone has marred his bare chest with a black stain.

Zelmios stands, flanked by a dozen acolytes, all of whom have their shirts open and a scar on their chests. “You who called him friend; why do you desecrate this place?”

Purge steps forward. “Your god is a lie, and I will purge you all.” He brandishes Vessel’s sword, and the battle begins.

Nameless rushes forward to hit Zelmios, but the acolytes block him from view and pile on to her. She gets a few good shots before falling under the weight.

Nat takes the back and protects Törk as he picks off the horde of acolytes.

Purge rushes into the hole Nameless burned and takes on, and then takes out, Zelmios, who in dying is revealed to be a jorogumo swarm prince: a half-man, half-spider who steals men’s hearts and in so doing steals their lives for his cause.

When it’s over, the spider and his woven lie dead, and the temple lies empty.

Cold Open: Omen

Vessel looks like he’s just been attacked and nearly devoured by a dragon, which he has. But right now he’s managing to run, up a hill and into a clearing, and as we do so the camera pedestals high and we see the clearing is a giant swirl of stonework and grass, undulating slightly as it settles. “Not again,” Vessel says, and he starts to dig furiously in the dirt, the blood that cakes his hand mingling with mud and dirt. “Not again!”Purge and Nameless run up next, each looking as beat as Vessel. They are followed closely by Nat and Eyon, and as each enters they immediately begin digging as well, using whatever means they have available to them. The camera pulls out, into the sky, and we see the clearing and the island around it, trees blasted away from the clearing, dead dragons laying in the forest, trees covered in blood. On the periphery another dragon slithers away, nursing a broken wing.
A shout, and the camera furiously pushes in again, and we see that Vessel has uncovered a cavern, and below is darkness, but there is air. And hope. Vessel, you are about to decide what to do when the ground gives out from under you, and all of you fall into the pit.Törk, you have a few blessed moments of ignorance before the rubble high above falls into the cavern you are laying in. What do you do?

Spotlight: Vessel; will you serve the One True God now that you know his true nature?

Int, A cavern filled with dust and rubble

The dust fills the air and makes it impossible to see.

Törk rolls into cover and surveys the surroundings, just as the ceiling falls in.

The party gathers themselves together and takes a short rest.

Producer’s Note: I gave the party a warning at this point that tonight was a bit of wish fulfillment for one of our players, who was leaving in a short while. His wish, stated some time ago, was to have a night where we didn’t focus on story but consisted of wave upon wave of monsters. I met him half-way, and gave them the monsters with reasons for why they showed up. The bargain here was simple: they got two short rests, and could take them whenever they liked. Per-battle powers, temporary HP, and status effects would all reset as in a normal short rest, but so would the Escalation Die. So the longer they could push it the better off they’d be. Seeing as one of the PCs was at 4 HP, they took one immediately.

The dust is settling. The only light is from far above, where the morning sky is visible through the opening. On the far side of the vast chamber figures loom out of the darkness.

Törk calls out to the figures, and when he gets no response he lobs an arrow at them. As he does so, the Jeweled Guantlet springs into action. The walls of the room glow a bright green, and from between the stonework the energy pulses, converging on Törk and crackling up his leg, through his arm, and into the guantlet. The shot rings out, and as it flies the arrow glows a vivid green, then hits dead center in one of the figures, who falls dead. [Producer’s Note: this was a critical hit that triggered a special ability that doubled damage, so ended up dealing 126 damage!] But Törk’s guantlet continues to glow green… as does his poisoned arm.

The figures return fire, lobbing an arrow of their own at Nameless. Oddly, it too has a green glow.

Vessel steps forward. He noticed that the arrow travelled oddly through this room, particularly in the center of the vast chamber. As he steps closer to the center, he taunts the room, “Want to fill the Vessel?” and he lets fly a Javelin of Faith. As it hits the figure opposite, he realizes what’s happening: there are no figures opposite; there is a mirror bisecting this room, redirecting their fire back upon them. As he realizes this, the javelin’s echo strikes Purge, and Vessel laughs. He looks over the figures he sees and notes that his reflection is a dark-hearted demon; Purge‘s is an undead hulk; Nameless’s is a shackled dragonic; and that Törk’s is a hulking rage-filled orc.

But the rest of the party has no idea. So Purge attempts to attack, but fumbles. Törk notes the fumble and realizes what’s going on, and begins to attack the mirror itself. Nameless, however, is oblivious, and flings lightning at the reflections, hurting Törk.

Soon it shatters in a rain of shards, which cut as they fall. The room is revealed to be a glorious chamber with a gigantic peacock mosaic on one wall.

Behind the mirror stand the two Cambion Assassins that fell into the pit with Törk, just completing a pentagram to gate in another of their number. They turn and charge.

Extreme close-up of the peacock mosaic’s unchanging eyes.

Int, The Temple of Narcissus, lighted now

The cambions split up; one goes downstairs and two across the bridge.

Nameless and Vessel take care of the downstairs one quickly, evne though she finds a flower rune on the ground that helps her in her fight. She manages to slice Vessel up a bit before he too takes advantage of the rune and she falls.

On the bridge, Purge continues missing, and gets blasted in the face with darkness and smoke. He topples off the edge and falls dozens of feet to the ground below.

Nameless steps on the flower rune and retches; her insides seem to crawl. She immediately leaves the area.

Törk, now upstairs alone with two Cambions, retreats down the stairs as he fires. One of the Cambions dies.

Vessel is ascending the other staircase, yelling at the peacock mosaic. He takes off his helmet and throws it at the mosaic, which cracks just the tiniest amount. “You have caused all of this, interfering with people’s lives! Interfering with my death! You have no right!”

Flashback: Beach

Vessel’s half-melted corpse lies on the beach, surrounded by flotsam. The Devouring Chest floats up on a wave and nessles into his body. There is a flash, and then the chest is alone, floating out to sea.

At this point the PCs could have used a short rest. They should have used a short rest. They didn’t use a short rest.

Int, The Temple of Narcissus, as the peacock looks on

The two surviving gorge dragons from last episode fly down, immediately coiling Purge and Nameless in their tails. [Producer’s Note: Being dragons, these baddies got to use that already-at-6 Escalation Die.]

The tide turns quickly against the PCs. They’re surrounded on the bridge, a dragon on each side.

Vessel is still mad at the mosaic while continuing his fight. “You cast judgment upon me? You judge me to be worthy or ready or useful to you? No, I cast judgment, and find too many wanting!”

Nameless falls as the dragon breathes sparkling lights on her, shorting out her brain.

Purge falls as the other dragon tears huge teeth through his plate mail.

Commercial Break

Int, The Temple of Narcissus, on the bridge

Then a voice echoes through the room, deep and resonant. As it does the dust below begins to stir, and soon a whirlwind is filling the room, dust blowing everywhere.

“Look at what you’ve accomplished.” And the dust forms images around them. We see temples to the One True God erected in city after city, with statues of Vessel in each. Happy worshippers surround each, helping their communities.

“Look at what we can accomplish.” The images shift, and Vessel is talking to the masses, and they are cheering, then he is leading them, and they are an army united behind him.

A voice starts droning in the background. Faintly at first, but then louder and louder. “no. no. No. No. NO. NO. NO!” We recognize that it is The Priestess.

Extreme close-up of the peacock mosaic’s unchanging eyes.

Extreme close-up of the Vessel’s eyes. He glances up. A peice of paper flutters down. It is singed on one side, but he grasps it, and we see that it is the same paper he drew the salamander on the peacock.

Vessel struggles with the decision. His eyes move from the paper to the mosaic. Then the throws the paper down, and with a look of defiance in his eyes, his armor surrounds him, whiter and shinier than ever.

For a moment we think that he’s going to fight the One True God, but then on his chest, a giant black salamander appears, and his mouth curls into a smile.

Suddenly the salamander is peirced by a blade from behind. The camera rack-focuses and we see Purge behind Vessel, his sword through his friend’s back.

Vessel looks down and smiles. “I knew it. This was how… it had to end. Give in… and prove Him wrong.” He slumps over, and crumples to the ground.

A moment later, light swirls around Vessel’s body, then coallesces and pulses into Purge, who looks taken aback.

But the swirl combines with the dust storm as the voice growls. “You shall not take my vessel from me so easily!”

Int, The Temple of Narcissus, on the bridge

The dust forms new images. Above the corpse of Vessel an eye coallesces, and all who look up it know that it sees their vanity, knows their secrets, and will strip away their self for its own ends.

Naturally, the Heroes need to kill it.

Nameless is first up, and she spells the Three Dooms for the Eye. She calls upon the power of the Green, and her attack blasts into the Eye with amazing force.

But poison saps out of the ground. The tiles again glow green, and the stonework oozes out energies that flow toward Nameless… and then redirect to Törk, who again finds himself with a glowing green poisoned arm [Producer’s Note: and an automatic crit on his next attack].

The tiles at either end of the bridge, after the green glow subsides, burst forth, and four orcs emerge, newly birthed from the earth.

To make matters even worse, the dust storm settles down and around each hero forms three figures; long-forgotten gods devoured by Narcissus, their symbols naught but dust now, echoing their forms in service of their new master. They appear for a moment, attack, and disappate again.

All the heroes focus on the Eye, which seems to be the center of it all. It lashes out at them with psychic glares, and though they question their choices they manage to fell the thing, but not before Nameless again falls bleeding to the floor.

As the eye falls, the whirlwind picks up, and the tiles of the mosaic start to rattle free. The walls shift and crack, and then the ground itself rises and pushes everything up at an alarming rate.

Cut to far shot of the ruins on the hill; the Shady Braggart is still in the harbor. We see bodies ejected from the earth, arc into the air, and fall back down to the ground.

Tag: Ext, Beach

A father and son are walking along the beach, talking about the recent storm.

They see someone in the sand, and run to him. We see him from the back, where he has a huge wound.

They ask if the stranger is okay (“I think so”), inspect the gash in his chest, and the father sends the son to fetch someone so that they can take this fellow to get help from The Archmage.

The father turns back to the newcomer, “Where are you from, stranger? What’s your name?”

The stranger shakes his head to get the ideas flowing. “I can’t recall where I’m from.” The camera turns, and we see that it is Vessel, but not Vessel; he’s got black hair, now, and his features are all slightly wrong. ”But I think my name… is Emissary.

The camera pulls back out to sea, and we see the Devouring Chest floating away.

Cold Open: At Sea

Waves of water overtake the ship and it lists port, and as it jolts back again it overbalances and the mast snaps like a twig. The deck splinters as the great beam crashes down, and just then another wave crashes into the crew and sweeps a few screaming men overboard. One figure runs to the side and points, “they’re sinking!” We cut to a close up of the pointer and see that it is a younger, uniformed Vessel, just before another wave crashes into him, but he holds on. “Captain Felir, we must beat the Cosmos to that wreck or we have failed our Queen!”
The captain spins the wheel into the oncoming waves and we see in the distance a great spout of water and dark energy swirling just off an emerald green coastline, above which hovers an impossibly large hunk of land topped by a gleaming white spire, which vigilant fans recognize as the Last Archmage’s personal floating island. The ball of energy sparks again and a shockwave rushes outward, causing Cosmos to shudder. As the wave nears the ship, Vessel braces for impact… And we smash cut back to Vessel in the present, cutting the last fetter binding the Shady Braggart to the sinking hulk of the Resolute. Again the ship lists port, and as we come back to level Vessel eyes the mast, but it holds.
Behind him, a yellow inflatable bursts out of the water, Purge and Eyon holding on to straps on its side, and Purge holding the Devouring Chest in his other hand. Nameless comes up next, sputtering and gagging. There is a beat…
A splash, and Törk grabs a bit of flotsam as new debris bubbles to the surface. He slips as the waters swirl, and grabs out with his other hand, and all assembled see the Jeweled Gauntlet thereon, sparkling slightly in the dark night.Vessel, your thoughts continue to flash back to that day when the Oriole sank; your last day as Edwain. You feel like your journey is looping back on itself, that this night has surprises left yet. What do you do?

Purge is opening the Devouring Chest. Nothing escapes. He reaches inside and draws forth a small clay disk, with the symbol of an eye in a mirror. He warns others not to touch it, lest “it speak to you”, and puts it in his pocket. Nameless wonders aloud if that’s a safe place, and Purge replies that he can’t trust anyone else with it.

Nameless descends below deck and sneaks to Ethril’s room. The elf is gone, but the wall is blood-stained, and in the blood is written “I will have vengeance.”

On deck, Törk is trying to poke people’s auras while not attracting too much attention. He does not manage to do so.

Vessel returns from the bow and asks Purge if he can look at the disk. Purge asks why, and when Vessel says that he knows about the old gods, Purge replies that that is why he is reluctant to hand it over. But he relents, and again warns against touching it. Vessel wraps his shirt around it and holds it that way.

Vessel nods, and lets everyone know that this is a symbol of the ancient god Narcissus, god of vanity, long forgotten. His symbols were this mirror, the flower, and… the peacock.

Vessel puts the symbol back in the chest, shoves his knife into the keyhole, and snaps off the tip. “Nobody touch it. It’s going back to Omen.” He returns, again, to the bow.

Purge eyes him, then notices a wadded up peice of paper on the deck. He unfurls it, and finds that it is the illustration of the peacock/salamander from last episode.

Nat attempts to ask why they’d want to go to Omen, and that she never signed on for that. But when one of the crewmen notes that the ship is leaking and that they need to make landfall with great haste, she sighs. “Can we make it to the Spray?”

Vessel yells, ”We. are going. to Omen! This is not the first time this has happened; this chest took my old ship the Oriole to Omen against its will, after it sank the Midnight when that ship tried to escape its fate. The chest belongs there, and our only hope of surviving is to take it. The chest has to– what the hell is that?!"

A discussion ensues about Törk‘s ability to take it off (he can’t). Purge advises that they take the hand off (Törk is not keen on this idea). Törk mentions the auras, and notes that Eyon‘s aura is quite a bit brighter than everyone else’s, and the sailors have very dim auras.

Nat finally agrees that Omen is their best bet, and goes to turn the ship to its new bearing… and notices that it’s already on its way.

Ext, The Bay of Innocents’ Tears

The group is making landfall on Omen, emerald green covering the ruins in all directions. The Shady Braggart is moored in a safe harbor, and Nat sends her men out to find supplies suitable to patch the hull.

Purge asks Vessel where they’re depositing the chest. Vessel shrugs, ”I don’t know… but I know who does. The Midnight was sent to excavate the ruins… by the Black".

The camera turns to Nameless, who looks annoyed. “The Black and the Blue don’t always get along, guys: I don’t know all their plans.”

Nat chimes in, and notes that recently she’s heard of lots of expeditions to Omen from the Black, the Blue, and The Archmage.

Nameless nods, and says that she’s heard a rumor that there’s a small outpost of the Black near here, and she can go– alone to be safe– and return with word.

She does, and the others set up a camp.

Ext, Camp Gorge

Nameless is muttering to herself that this stupid outpost probably doesn’t even exist, and if it does it probably has some low-level know-nothing of an imbecile manning it, and then she crests a hill and sees a giant complex laid out, fortified and obviously digging deep into the island. Cut to her astonished face.

She is just about to turn and run, when she hears a raspy reptilian voice. “Why are you here?”

She looks around for the source, and two dragonics emerge from the bushes bearing pikes. They repeat themselves, but with more emphasis to make their meaning clear, “Why are you here? We have an agreement with the Blue. This is our area.”

Nameless opens her mouth to speak, but then surveys the operation. If she mentions the chest they’re going to want it, and that’s going to be bad.

“The Blue is the mother of lies! She breaks her promises!” Nameless turns and runs.

Ext, Ruins

Vessel is sitting in some old ruins, meditating. The Priestess comes to him in a vision. “I know. There is something I need to show you.” He gets up and walks out to the beach; we see the Shady Braggart across the water. The Priestess continues, “I had kept it from you for fear that it would break you, but now I see that keeping it broke you just the same.”

Vessel finds a shipwreck, with graves scattered here and there. “This was my ship, wasn’t it? But who dug these graves? I didn’t, and I was the only survivor.”

The Priestess stops him, “No, Vessel. You were not.” He turns, and sees the inscription on the nearest grave marker: “Edwain”

Vessel drops to his knees and we hear his connection to The Priestess snap, and in the echo we hear a voice: “The Vessel Must Be Filled”

Ext, the deck of the Oriole

The wreck of Midnight sinks nearby, and bloodied elves gather around their bounty: on the deck lies the Devouring Chest. Edwain steps forward, opens the latch, and terror and light burst out. Edwain’s face blisters and boils, and he falls back, dead.

Int, Campsite at the Bay of Innocents’ Tears

Purge is dreaming, fitfully. We cut to Omen as it was in the days of the Wizard King, a shiny metropolis on the stormy seas. A ship pulls into harbor, then a carraige ascends a steep road, and into a throne room we follow a well-dressed man. The camera spins and we are behind the throne as the man presents the Devouring Chest. “The taxes from the territories, sir.”

There is a cruel laugh, and with a flick of the wrist the man before the Wizard King is sliced in half. A sphere of darkness coallesces around the chest, and we hear a voice. “It was foolish to trap yourselves in such a tiny place.” The sphere contracts and the chest shrinks. “And now I will ensure that you have many Ages to consider your mistake.” The sphere contracts again and it’s just a pinprick of darkness, now. Then it plumets through the floor, and the tile beneath it shatters.

Purge wakes up with a start. “I know where to take the Chest. But He knows where we are!”

Nameless runs into camp. She’s sweaty and winded, and has obviously been running a long time.

Commercial Break

Ext, Bay of Innocents’ Tears

Three dragons are swopping down the hillside as a horn blairs. The first rays of dawn are breaking, casting the scene in an reddish orange hue. Cut to Nat sounding the horn, then to her men running through the forest for the runabouts.

Battle ensues.

The gorge dragons snatch people up with their tales or breathe radiance when they can’t reach.

The crewman try to hide in the forest but are cut down.

Vessel does not join the fray; instead he grabs the Devouring Chest and wanders up the hill to a nearby ruin, near where Törk has taken the high ground.

With focused fire, the group manages to down the one that’s grabbed Nameless.

The Shady Braggart’s arbalest launches darts at the dragons, scoring some good hits.

A fourth dragon flanks the group, flying over the bay toward the ship.

As Vessel enters the ruins, the rubble begins to vibrate and the walls begin to glow with hidden runes. The same dark energy from the opening starts to spark into existence, and all the dragons change course and head straight for Vessel.

Nameless is clawed by a passing dragon and barely standing; Törk is surrounded, then coiled; Purge and Nameless are running after the fight as it drifts away from them; and Vessel is beset on all sides by dragons.

The Lich King’s men arrive: Cambion Assassins, hired at a moment’s notice, who appear in pairs behind Nameless and Törk, their sickles cutting deep.

Vessel, coiled once again in a gorge dragon’s tail, falls into a trace. We see his life onscreen in quick succession: washing ashore, calling forth armor, sealing the hellhole, aiding Cathedral, talking with the Priestess. “The One True God,” he says, “He’s just the only One left.”

Cut to extreme closeup of Vessel reaching into the keyhole of the Devouring Chest, blood streaming from his fingers as he pries the blade tip out. “You… can’t… have… this… either,” and he throws it with all his might.

Slow motion shot of the chest flying through the air as the music reaches a crescendo

Then back to normal time; the ruins shudder, grow, and reach out of the ground to swallow the chest. We see in the ruins as they crumble back into the ground the falling figures of two cambion assassins, and Törk.

Cold Open: Sunrise

A signal fire burns brightly atop a tower perched high in the mountains as Coroth ascends to the roof. When she finds a good foothold she sets a large chest down and opens it, withdrawing from within a mechanical bird, its eyes glowing a deep amber. She whispers into its ear, and then throws it into the air, where it takes wing and flies. We follow the bird down the mountains, faster and faster, joining a river and following that, then turning right and following the coast. A city comes into view, and the chyron tells us that we’re back in Glitterhaegen as the bird flaps its way through the busy streets to the roof of a seaside inn, where Törk is busy target-shooting. The bird settles down before him, opens its mouth, and from its beak comes Coroth’s voice: “The Resolute carries in its hold an item of great power, intended to reach my uncle and aid in his fight against the forces of the north. He requests that you ensure its safe passage to his Kingdom.”Törk, you know that if Coroth has the messenger birds that she speaks with the authority of your king, but you would not expect a message like this from her. What do you do?

Positioning: The camera flies up from Glitterhaegen, then up the river and into a foggy, dark marsh where figures move in the shadows. Fire bursts from the ground and will-o-the-wisps meander through the trees. We cross a lake and zoom in on an old shack, its pier extending into the water to welcome guests, and its sign a half-rotted skeleton hanging out front. We hear people carousing inside. The camera snaps back and returns to Eyon and Marstar the Moneylender.

A gust of wind catches it, and Vessel has to snatch it before it flies away. But when he pulls it back it is upside down, and a sudden look of horror takes him. He slaps down the pamplet and draws some marks on it, and reveals that the peacock, with minor changes, is an Obsidian Salamander.

Commercial Break

Ext, The Deck of the Shady Braggart

Nat is also still above deck, watching the sea hiss as it is burned by the starstuff.

But then she notices that the bubbles in front of the ship are huge, and getting bigger. Then a mast breaks the surface, and The Resolute rises from the calm seas.

Nat grabs a rope and swings from the fo’c’sle back to the wheel, where she turns hard to port to avoid colliding with the ghost ship.

Below decks, Purge is knocked from his feet as everything turns wildly.

Back above decks, we see grappling hooks fly over and bind to the Shady Braggart, then stick-thin men clamber across.

The First Mate is the first to fall.

The Ghost Captain flies across on the winds, lightning sparking around him.

His men run around and cut deep, gleefully licking the splattered blood of their enemies.

Vessel gets up close to the Ghost Captain and identifies him; he’s become a Wendigo, a spirit who fights against service to The Lich King, with disasterous results.

Eyon climbs up to the crow’s nest, and from there he can see that the Resolute is in peices, held together only by magical strands of energy.

Nameless gets the final blow on the Ghost Captain, and his howl echoes around the ship. Suddenly the Resolute makes a cracking sound, and all eyes turn toward it. “We must get the chest!” cries Purge.

Jumping Between Ext, The Deck of the Shady Braggart and Int, The Resolute

Nameless leaps across first, but the deck gives out and she falls down into the ship.

Törk leaps across and tumbles aft to the captain’s quarters, where a light still burns.

Purge and Eyon go to the fore, and find the passenger’s quarters full of gore and death.

Nat and Vessel continue to fight the remaining cannibalistic crew who fight on even after their captain has fallen.

Nameless finds herself in a dark room with water seeping in. A ghostly glow drifts in, and forms into a figure. “I’d been told you would come. Did you bring the Lord?”

Törk finds half-eaten bodies strewn about the captian’s quarters, but presses on. He opens a cabinet and his mouth opens.

Purge finds a dead man, and delivers a sailor’s burial. Eyon is urging him to press on, as there’s not time, but Purge says that he must.

Back on the Shady Braggart, Nat and Vessel have dispatched the last of the cannibals when they see the Resolute begin to creak and moan. It shudders, and the Shady Braggart lists. The grappling hooks are pulling them down!

Back to Nameless, who nods to the spirit, “He is on the other ship.” The spririt flickers. ”I require him. If you grant me this one favor, I can grant what The Three desires. But he is under your protection, and I require your permission."

Törk is standing before the open cabinet, and the camera pedestals up above his head so we can see what he sees: it’s a left-handed jeweled guantlet that matches the one The Butcher wears. Törk stands, motionless.

Vessel and Nat are running around cutting ropes as the Shady Braggart continues to list.

Nameless thinks, then speaks. “You have my permission.” The spirit sparkles, then collapses into a tiny ball of light and speeds through the wall toward the other ship.

Purge and Eyon are running down a hallway, barging through doors and looking. The ship creaks, then snaps, and they tumble to the ground.

Törk is thrown backward as the room twists; the guantlet flies at him, and he reaches to grab it but instead it slides neatly onto his outstretched hand.

Purge and Eyon burst through another door, and inside find a room that looks like it’s on another ship. Completely untouched, this cabin houses a neatly-made bed, upon which sits the Devouring Chest. The camera pushes in, and a glint from the front of the chest catches our eye: it’s an Obsidian Salamander.

Cold Open: A Stormy Night

Rain pelts down on a ship at sea, tumbling over the waves. The helmsman struggles to keep the ship’s wheel straight, but he looks tired and drenched. As another wave crests the ship’s side and washes men off their feet, a yell comes from the crow’s nest, but it is inaudible over the sound of the storm. A flash of lightning tells us what the lookout saw: not a dozen feet before the ship is a rocky shore, the silhouette of a columned mausoleum perched atop it. The sickening crunch of wood shattering overpowers the sound of the sea.
Smash cut to a finely-painted map of the Dragon Empire, hanging on a well-lit wall. The chyron tells us we’re in Glitterhaegen as a bearded gnome swats at the map with a pointer. “Santa Cora told us to expect the Resolute to have arrived three days ago, but she is nowhere to be seen.”Purge, you called this meeting when you heard of the Resolute’s disappearance. You do not know why, but this ship is important. What do you do?

Törk excuses himself and finds a half-orc captain in the corner of the tavern. “Gents,” he says, “Let’s talk.” The captain pointedly ignores him at first, but when he shows off the scroll from The Orc Lord, the captain listens. “I’m a wee bit busy now, but tell him that I’ll honor my promise.”

Int, The Sauna

Vessel is familiar with the woman who runs this sauna, having been here a few times before. He sweet-talks her into giving up Nat’s room number, and they book the room next door.

Cut forward to Vessel and Purge in towels, sitting in the steamy room. “So we’re next door to her… what next?”

Vessel shrugs. “Not sure yet. But this would be an awkward place to get into a fight.”

The door blows in, and Nameless runs in with a towel-clad woman of middle years with long black hair. After them, hurriedly, come a squadron of half-orcs, their weapons already gore-caked.

A fight ensues; the half-orcs are out for blood and get a lot of it.

Flashback: A Dungeon

Purge is entering a dungeon, flanked by two young men who are awkwardly dressed a little bit too much like him.

A spiked chain flies in from the side, and the two younger men run forward as the enemy appears. But they are trapped, and after Purge defeats the attackers, he finds his two comrades dead.

Purge shakes his head clear of such thoughts and notices Vessel has been split from the group. When Vessel misses wide with a Lance of Faith, Purge calls out: “You call that representing your God?!”. Vessel’s eyes narrow, and he rouses a Sphere of Radiance, which explodes and fells two of the remaining half-orcs [This was a double-crit triggered by Purge giving Vessel an extra action, and it was awesome -Editor]

Purge looks at the last remaining half-orc, and tells him that “This ends now.” The half-orc obligingly drops his weapon. When asked what the attack was for, the half-orc confesses that he and his comrades were told by The Orc Lord that the Resolute had something on board and that any who went looking for it were to be stopped.

The half-orc is turned over to the city guard

Vessel notices that Nat has a necklace with the symbol of The Priestess on it. He entreats her aid in finding the Resolute, offering to owe her a favor if she will help. She agrees.

Int, The Harbormaster’s Office

Purge is looking over some papers; it’s a bill of goods for what was on the Resolute. He stops and his mouth opens. We see again a flash of the storm and a crystal eye. “An artifact,” he says, to no one in particular. “His. From the First Age.”

Blackness. A silky female voice over, “You shan’t find solace with me, Callista.”
A moment of whirling motion: someone is fighting. Back to blackness.
“I warned you to avoid entanglements.”
Another moment, longer now. We see Nameless surrounded by armored men. They leap at her.
“And you insisted that you could handle it.”
Extreme close up of a golden guantlet being eaten away by acid, then blackness again.
“And yet I had my doubts.” Nameless stands, bloody, surrounded now by bodies.
“That is why you have been followed.”Nameless Is running down a dark street. A wailing comes from somewhere.
“That is why you have been tested.”Nameless runs past a well-lit street fair, where young goblins are riding a large lizard creature. Calliope music starts quietly, becoming louder as the scene progresses.
“That is why you will be tested again.”Nameless steps into a building that astute viewers recognize as the soup kitchen where Nameless and Vessel met. “We’ve been made!”
“And yet you come to me and expect my good graces?” We cut to an extreme close up of blue-lipsticked lips, frowning. “Child, you deserve punishment for your transgressions.”Vessel and the others stand from the table where a card game is progressing. The spurts of action meld together at this point and we see the rest in situ.
“But your mistress is no stranger to mercy. Mercy and I have an ambassador, and his name is Atonement.”
Everyone stands, readying for a fight. They look to the door, still cracked open. The calliope plays on.
“The Wyrm’s Order seeks to carry some valuable through my city- my city!- this very night. And you are the one who shall stop them.”
The door stands still, motionless.
“And if you do not, you had best hope that your destiny can outrun the terrors I will send after at you.”
The door creaks in the wind. Nameless, no one is coming and you’ve roused your friends w ithout explanation. What do you do?

Int, Soup Kitchen

Nameless appologizes, then lies through her teeth. Claiming that “the balance of power in the empire is at stake,” she intimates that the alliance between The Emperor and The Three might fall due to some well-intentioned but ill-informed members of the Golden Order.

Törk makes sure that they’re not about to get into a fight. When he is assured of this, he settles in and agrees to help, if given one round now and two after. Nameless agrees. The others seem okay with this deal, but Malena is unsure.

Törk looks concerned. The camera pans and we see that he is watching Malena watch the others.

Int, Soup Kitchen

All have returned to the Soup Kitchen to share what they have learned.

Nameless goes first. The target is one Ethril, an elf lord who fled the court some time ago and has been residing in Santa Cora. He was not abducted– he went of his own volition– but he was not happy to go.

Purge explains that three city blocks of the Dregs were recently purchased by this selfsame Ethril, including a disused hotel that has recently staffed up its guards.

Someone says that they’ve found their target. Purge shakes his head; the hotel is a decoy.

Ext, Library

Outside a library in the Dregs, run by the Golden Order. A single Order member stands guard outside as Malena, Purge, and Vessel approach. Vessel shakes his head, “I lived in this city for years and never knew of this place.”

Malena stops to talk to the guard. “I must talk to your Captain.” He looks unlikely to grant this request, and so she draws out a golden necklace.

Flashback: A Safe House

Ser Lorwick nurses Malena back to health. She asks why he would do so, and when he tells her about The Great Gold Wyrm’s orders to go out and do good, she asks more. We quickly montage through her slowly healing and learning.

The guard nods, “Welcome, sister. The Captain is upstairs.”

Int, Library Office

Malena, Purge, and Vessel enter. The man who turns to greet them is Ser Lorwick, but we notice a hook where his left hand was last time he was onscreen. Malena is surprised to see him again, and he is happy to see her.

Malena explains that the Order has made a mistake, and that the man in their care is a danger to the whole Empire.

Despite the threat to the empire being only Nameless’s cover story, Ser Lorwick does not deny it, and so we assume that it is true. But he is curious how Malena knows.

Ser Lorwick accepts this help, and they all descend into an underground tunnel that Ser Lorwick explains leads straight to the safe house.

Ext, The Dregs

Establishing shot of a small hovel in a row of small hovels, with a beggar sitting in front of it. Dolly back to see:

Törk returns and reports. “One guard in front, disguised. Three more inside, visible from the roofs behind.”

Cut to Eyon, slipping into shadows and down into the tunnels below The Dregs. He peers into his pocket and withdraws the bauble he picked up last episode.

Törk climbs atop a nearby roof and peers over as Nameless approaches the beggar-guard.

Nameless first attempts to get in by sheer familiarity, but this Order member does not trust her. She instead tries to bluff her way in, claiming that the Library is under attack, and that Ser Lorwick sent her to protect the safe house.

The delivery is convincing, but the beggar-guard hesitates. Why would Ser Lorwick send this woman, who is not of the Order? Why wouldn’t she come via the tunnels? And if there is a problem, why hasn’t the alarm sounded?

Cut to Eyon, peering at the bauble. Ser Lorwick and his coterie come around the corner, and their lanterns cast light down the tunnel. The bauble shines in the darkness, and Eyon’s location is given away. Malena, recognizing both the bauble and the person holding it, shouts: “How could you!?” while Ser Lorwick and his men charge.

The charge is short-lived. Purge throws his shield to stop the Order members from attacking Eyon, and Eyon uses the distraction to drop a flash bomb, blinding everyone.

Cut back to the doorway. The alarm sounds from inside and the beggar-guards objections are overruled. He steps backward, and motions for Nameless to follow, which she does. Törk leaps down from his hiding place and rolls inside, slipping past the beggar-guard.

Nameless corners Ethril, who is looking very scared. Malena follows Nameless in just in time to hear Nameless explain that Ethril is in grave danger, and that he will be safer if he flees with them. Ethril is unsure but convinced, but Malena sees through the lie; Nameless knows that Ethril is not safe anywhere, but she is not putting Ethril’s safety first.

Vessel is thrown through a wall by a Golden Order member. He stands, “We have to get out of here!”

Nameless grabs Ethril and leaps out the window. She sprouts the ethereal green wings and glides down. Malena leaps after her, crumpling to the ground as she does so.

Törk hears Ser Lorwick and his men coming up the stairs from the tunnels below, and throws a dead draconic down the stairs to slow them down, then runs to meet Nameless.

Eyon disentanlges himself from the last standing draconic and runs. Purge downs the draconic and runs, too.

Ser Lorwick ascends the stairs just in time to see the mass exodus. His eyes narrow, “Callista…”

Vessel saunters downstairs, and is quite surprised to find Ser Lorwick there. “This isn’t what it looks like, and I’m sure this isn’t going to make it look any better.” He teleports outside and runs with the others.

Int, Soup Kitchen

Vessel sits back with his. “Is it bad that this went exactly as I expected it to?”

They all drink and make merry. Ethril is seen sleeping in a cot in the background.

Time passes. Törk wanders away from the group, sits, and takes out the letter from the Orc Lord. He breaks the seal, reads, and his mouth falls open.

Purge also pulls away from the merriment. He goes to a back room and we see Nameless in the middle of a ritual. Purge steps closer, “Is it done?” And Nameless’s eyes open, cackling with power, “Almost.”

Four figures kneel before the smoldering remains a small fire, chanting rhythmically. The camera spins around them, and we see their cloaked heads silhouetted against the large blue windows that, due to smoke and the night outside, lend little light into this tall chamber. But the light and the smoke shift, mingle, and suddenly another silhouette forms in the smoke. A terrible roar echoes through the chamber, and then the leftmost figure rises into the air, screams, and suddenly stops as we see his face drain of life, crack, and wither away.
The husk of skin left contorts into a wicked smile as the other three figures stand and the camera sees that each is a lifeless mask on old bones. A voice creeks out of one. “Our number is complete. The time has come to crack the barrier and let loose the Obsidian Hound.”
“I’ve got a better idea,” comes a voice, as the camera pulls back and we see the rear of a boot as it steps forward. We pedestal up and see the silhouette of Grimnir standing defiantly, axe in hand. “Let’s not.”
The rest of you are waiting in the shadows, and none of you trust this crazy dwarf, who screams and races forward. What do you do?

But Nameless wanders toward the fire, and out of the smoke and shadow comes the Obsidian Hound, still half-formed and drifting over the battle. It howls and Nameless feels her soul sucked from her body and toward the beast, but barely hangs on. She staggers away, lets loose her power in an arc of lightning that fells two of the spawn, and then huddles behind Vessel.

Flashback: a lecture hall. A priest is showing Eyon a huge grandfather clock, but Eyon is frowning. “We can make that smaller.”

Eyon pulls out a pocket watch and hypnotizes a vampire spawn, which turns on the one next to it.

free to move now, Grimnir runs at the Hound. “This is more like it!” He says, but his blows pass through the air without catching.

Malena sings a song, stabs an arrow into the energy, and then shoots the arrow at Nameless to heal her.

Eyon pulls out aerosol cans to Color Spray. He eyes the fire, still smoldering, and sees a shiny bauble among the items gathered around it. We flash to The Prince of Shadows smiling, and Eyon nodding.

The Obsidian Hound turns its attention to Grimnir, and once again we see a soul pulled free, only to slither back into a body.

A shield flies out and strikes the Hound, letting Eyon get in another attack. He pulls out the aerosol cans and sprays color onto the beast, attempting to confuse it.

The shield is followed by Purge, the armored commander that went missing in the cathedral and who they were meant to find. He strikes the Hound with his sword, tearing a gash in the shadow.

Nameless lashes out with all her breath: poison and acid fly, and soon the smoke and shadows are burning and sizzling as the Hound roars.

But the Hound strikes Grimnir again, and the barbarian falla dead at its phantasmal feet. A moment later he arises skeletal claws extending from his fingers.

Purge attacks Grimnir as the Hound outflanks the commander and advances again on Nameless. Its attacks are weakening as the forgotten ritual expires and its form fades from this world, but it still brings Nameless close again to death, before disappearing itself.

Commercial Break

Int, Smoke-Filled Room

Vessel looks back and forth between Purge and Eyon, then decides to accost Eyon first. “What are you doing here?!”

Eyon is somewhere between unforthcoming and unaware: “I was told by… certain parties that there might be a… meeting in these parts.”

Vessel is unimpressed. “In the secret Dark Gods Wing of the Cathedral?”

Nameless is still recovering from nearly losing her soul twice. Purge Helps her up, and when their eyes meet we

Flashback: Nameless is fighting again next to Ser Lorwick, against the hellbugs. She is surrounded, but just before the attack the demon is run through, and as it falls we see Purge, with less armor and fewer scars. Extreme close up of Nameless’s eyes, which fade to the same eyes in the present.

We hear her voice echoing thorough the chamber but do not see her. “… the race-traitor Eyon." The camera comes to rest on a kneeled figure, who lifts her head. It is Malena. “I know the man, yes.” “You are never to see him again.” Malena does not look happy. “You are my Queen and my sister, and I must submit to your wishes, but I ask that you allow me to follow him for a time and see for myself.”

The rosey hues of sunrise bathe the impossibly tall spires of Cathedral. The camera flies in and we focus on a huge stained glass window of a tree on fire, the flames each a glimmering shard of glass. Suddenly the glass shatters outward as a figure flies out, and the camera tilts and follows as the figure plummets down, screaming, toward the city below. Closer, closer, and at the last second the camera tilts up to see our four heroes standing a few feet away, eyes wide, blood suddenly spattered on their traveling clothes.Vessel, this is not the welcome you expected. What do you do?

Int, Liale’s Office

Vessel explains what happened outside. Liale shakes his head, “You always show up at the most interesting times, V.”

Vessel and the others race up to the 84th floor. Baäb welcomes them, apologizing that Dral is away on a pilgrimage. Although many orcs are in the shrine to Klirsh, none heard the scuffle in the next room, due to their singing.

Ext, By the Body

Grimnir arrives and finds two Cathedral guards doing their best with the mess, but unsure of how to proceed. Grimnir mocks them slightly, and inspects the body. He takes a part of the dead man’s robes, and finds on the body an obsidian dagger and a cask of holy oil.

He proceeds inside, where Liale the tiny gnome is at his giant desk surrounded by paperwork. The dwarf asks the gnome about the body (“was that your doing?” asks the gnome. “Sadly no”, replies Grimnir).

Liale agrees to look up the symbol on the cloth, and opens a filing cabinet filled with paperwork. “This may take a moment, I’m afraid.”

Int, Klirsh’s Shrine

Arroway is climbing back in the window. She found scuff marks from climbing gear, so it’s likely someone went out or came in that direction.

It is decided that they should investigate the body more thoroughly. They go to leave, but there are Cathedral guards at the door. “Your presence is requested.”

Commercial Break

Int, Hall of Shrines

The guards are leading everyone through a large hall full of small shrines.

Flashback: The Cathedral

Vessel is talking to a younger version of Liale, who invites him to wander the Hall of Shrines. As he does so the power of each shrine he passes seems to dim. Even the worshipped floating guy in suspended animation wobbles. But then Vessel finds a small scratch in the wall that looks somewhat like a peacock feather, asks “is that you?” and reaches out to touch it, and the scratch glows and overtakes the frame.

Back in the present, everyone is walking through the Hall of Shrines, led now by guards. They’re led into a small hearing room where other adventurers are assembled. Reed enters, tells Vessel that they will “talk later” about the body, asks GG if he’s from the The Dwarf King (“did my stature give me away?”) and then addresses everyone.

There are multiple stories of undead: the elf queen’s guards; the empty tombs of gladiators near Axis; the Last Archmage was seen recently. The Lich King is making a move, and making it soon. The Priestess fears that his move involves The Cathedral, and the power of that structure given over to The Lich King is something no one wants to see.

GG and Törk bicker about height and accomplishments throughout. Reed warns them to quiet down, and after a while snaps her fingers and something wraps around Törk‘s face. He can’t talk, then falls over unconscious.

“Green-lover!”

“But what I kill stays dead!”

Reed continues. One of The Priestess’s associates went in search of the rogue element within the Cathedral, but now he is missing. She asks if anyone here has heard of him; Purge. Arroway thought he was a myth, but Reed assures everyone that he is quite real.

Suddenly, the door bursts open and in walks the broken corpse that was outside not so long ago.

Commercial Break

Int, The Hearing Chamber

He shrieks and bursts into flames.

Vessel requests that Reed free Törk, and with a snap of her fingers she does so, while also disappearing.

The ghast then begins tearing into people with the bone claws that have sprouted from his fingers. When people are distracted he unhinges his jaw and bites into them.

But with the combined might of those in the room he is finally defeated, and GG pisses on him to put out the flames.

Reed returns, and when asked if this is Purge says that she does not believe so, but that at this point not much is left but a charred skeleton, and it is difficult to tell.

GG notes that Liale was unable to identify the symbol as belonging to any registered shrine in the Cathedral. Arroway asks: “What’s the symbol?”. GG pulls it out: “A black salamander.”

Flashback: The Streets of Axis

a young Arroway sees small children being rounded up. She follows. The children are let out in an alley and shown a plate of food. The handlers produce a black dagger. “The winner eats.” The children look unsure, then lunge at each other.

Törk runs out of a door with ham hock in his fist, which he tosses at Grimnir. An angry cook follows, sees Grimnir, and gives chase.

Arroway is following the others down a corridor, then ducks through a hidden passage without their knowing. She approaches a circle of candles, and reaches to pick up something in the center. As she does, her sleeve shifts and we see a salamander tattoo on her arm.

Commercial Break

Int, A Dark Cathedral Hall

The party turns a corner and walks toward the camera, which pedestals down to see words floating in the air, shimmering dimly in the gloom.

Vessel reads them: “All Who Enter Here Forfeit My Protection.” He looks at the others. “This part of the Cathedral is lesser known. This part houses the shrines to the darker gods.”

Grimnir stands before the throne. “What do you require of me, my liege?”

“I am not your liege anymore, outcast. But I have something for you in any case. You are to go to the Cathedral. A cancer grows there, from the beating heart of the kingdom of men. A darkness that cannot be allowed to spread. You are to find the cancer and cut it out. If the rumors are to be believed, you might end up challenging a god itself. Sound worth your time?”

Int, The Dust Chamber

A fountain trickles on one wall, bioluminescent mushrooms glowing from the waters and barely illuminating the chamber, dominated by a large statue.

Törk is following the trail, when suddenly skeletons enter from the side chambers.

Grimnir charges forward, Nameless arcs lightning through them, and then when it looks alright the statue and the frieze above the fountain spring to life: a pair of gargoyles accost the party, but are soon so much rubble.

Vessel: “the skeletons tell me we are on the right track. The gargoyles tell me why no one ever comes here.”

Back to the present. Arroway looks down the hallway after her friends, then goes the opposite direction.

The camera careens down the hall following the others, and we see Törk leading as the others chat among themselves. He bends down to inspect the tracks, and two letters fall from his pack. He inspects them.

The larger is on heavy parchment, “To Törk, from Dral”. He runs his finger over the seal, “From the Orc Lord.” He pockets It before the others notice.

The smaller is addressed simply to “everyone, from Arroway”. He looks around, sees that she is missing, and unfolds the letter. “Goodbye, my friends.”